Nathan Roulan took the elevator down from his private suite of rooms to the public levels of the hotel, where the bar that housed the small stage where Dr. Robert was performing tonight lay. He was having a sign made, renaming it Club le Robert as the good doctor had requested. Silly, perhaps, but it amused him, and it pleased Robert, so why not?

Nathan's mind was preoccupied with two things -- what Mrs. White had said as he was leaving, and with the food she had brought him, which he had opted to leave alive, at least for the moment, and sleeping in his bed. He was already well aware that both issues were going to prove more complicated than he desired.

The boy was probably the easier to dispose of. He could be dead or removed by the end of the night if Nathan wished it. The problem lay mostly in the fact of his resemblance to Julian, the lover he had sent away for his own safety. It made Nathan remember what tenderness felt like, and that irritated him. A vampire who started having tender feelings for his dinners soon starved. Julian had already almost been the end of him. He would not let it happen again with Henry.

As for Mrs. White's comment that Dr. Robert's new companion was an elf, well, that could mean anything, and he would have to investigate. He rather hoped it was merely a cryptic comment and not literally an elf, but despite Mrs. White's propensity for manias, Nathan had a bad feeling about this.

When he entered Club le Robert and allowed the Maitre d', a young vampire indebted to Nathan, to show him to his customary table up front and to the right, he wished he'd had more to drink of Henry Bierk's tranquilizer-laden blood. The calm it had afforded him was already wearing off. He mentally contacted Mrs. White and told her to send someone to the Punishment Room for his exercise later. She cheerfully informed him that there were at least three maids in need of correction.

Cutting her off, he mentally swept the room, listening for anyone who sounded like an elf while he sipped the glass of Special Reserve that the Maitre d' had brought him. There was the usual cacophony of mortals (and a few vampires) making connections with each other and bludgeoning themselves with drugs and alcohol. That failing, he began carefully to search the room with his eyes.

Seating at the table immediately to his left sat an extraordinarily attractive and extraordinarily young-looking lad. He had long blond hair and a face that rivaled in beauty even the boy who lay in his bed upstairs. Nathan knew that this had to be the one. Dr. Robert's taste never strayed far from his own and…well, a blue eyed blond boy generally stood no chance against them. In any event, at the age he appeared, this young man would only have been permitted into the club as the guest of a vampire and he appeared to be sitting alone…watching Dr. Robert perform in a state of thrall.

If he needed any more confirmation, Nathan had only to look at Robert, who seemed to be performing exclusively for this boy. He was crooning something called "Pond Life" which he'd written recently, his eyes locked to the blond. He looked beautiful tonight, Nathan noted, sighing. Why did he only feel some stab of desire for Robert when he was otherwise occupied?

Back to the so-called elf. Nathan touched his mind lightly to the boy's, and was irritated to find that he could not make contact with his thoughts. He heard Robert laugh inside his head.

Can't read elfikins! Now back off, Nathan, darling -- he's mine.

Nathan stared at the lad, willing him to turn in his direction, but he didn't. He tucked a strand of the long blond hair behind one ear, and Nathan saw that the tip of his ear was pointed. He frowned. How on earth could an elf be in New York City? He hadn't thought they existed any more. He hadn't seen one in over a millennia. Hadn't tasted one in even longer…

It came back with blinding clarity, the flavor of an elf. Richer than human, harder to catch, but well, well worth the effort. His mouth watered, his fangs felt painfully sharp against his lips. Dr. Robert couldn't possibly have any idea of what a find this was…

You're so ill at ease...
A whisper in the trees...